Across the world, the number of citizen science projects focusing on plastic pollution is increasing. These projects often last for multiple years, which makes retaining volunteers challenging.... Show moreAcross the world, the number of citizen science projects focusing on plastic pollution is increasing. These projects often last for multiple years, which makes retaining volunteers challenging. However, our knowledge is limited regarding the effect of long-term involvement on citizen scientists’ motivation, attitude, and knowledge, especially for plastic pollution projects. Therefore, this study measured citizen scientists’ motivation, attitude, and knowledge in the Dutch Clean Rivers project before and during monitoring plastic pollution on riverbanks between 2017 and 2021.In total, 403 Clean Rivers participants completed a pre-survey, and a portion of them participated in one or multiple post-surveys throughout the years of monitoring. They were especially driven by Project Action motivations and Environmental motivations like tackling the source of pollution and doing something about the plastic soup, rather than being motivated by an Interest in Scientific Research like the desire to learn about scientific research. Project Action motivations increased significantly, especially within the first year of participation. Participants’ attitudes towards nature and science were initially high and did not increase significantly. Furthermore, while participants’ knowledge of plastic pollution was already high at the start, their knowledge of scientific research was not, and both increased significantly, especially in the first year of participation. The findings of this longitudinal study can contribute to improving the recruitment and retention of volunteers in current and future citizen science projects. Show less
Rock, S.; Rodenburg, F.J.; Schaaf, M.J.M.; Tudorache, C. 2022
Research on stress coping style, i.e., the response of an organism to adverse conditions, which is constant over time and context, gained momentum in recent years, to better understand behavioural... Show moreResearch on stress coping style, i.e., the response of an organism to adverse conditions, which is constant over time and context, gained momentum in recent years, to better understand behavioural patterns in animal welfare. However, knowledge about the ontogeny of stress coping style is still limited. Here, we performed a detailed analysis of the light dark challenge behavioural assay in zebrafish larvae, where after acclimation in ambient light sudden alternating dark and light phases elicit an anxiety-like response. A principal component analysis on parameters related to locomotion (distance moved, swimming velocity, acceleration, mobility) and directionality (angular velocity, meandering of swimming path) revealed independence between the parameters determined in the light and the dark phases of the assay, indicating unrelated generalised behaviours per phase. However, high collinearity was observed between behavioural parameters within the same phase, indicating a robust response to the stimulus within behavioural phenotypes. Subsequently, this assay was used to determine the correlation between individual hatching time and the behavioural phenotype. The results show that fish that had hatched during daytime have a stronger behavioural response to the dark phase at 5 days post-fertilisation in locomotion related parameters and a weaker response in directionality related parameters, than fish that had hatched during nighttime. These results show that behavioural responses to the light dark challenge assay are robust and can be generalised for the light and the dark phase, and that diel hatching time may determine the behavioural phenotype of an individual. Show less
Verwilligen, R.A.F.; Mulder, L.; Rodenburg, F.J.; Dijke, A. van; Hoekstra, M.; Bussmann, J.; Eck, M. van 2022
BACKGROUND AND AIMS\nMETHODS\nRESULTS\nCONCLUSIONS\nScavenger receptors form a superfamily of membrane-bound receptors that bind and internalize different types of ligands, including pro... Show moreBACKGROUND AND AIMS\nMETHODS\nRESULTS\nCONCLUSIONS\nScavenger receptors form a superfamily of membrane-bound receptors that bind and internalize different types of ligands, including pro-atherogenic oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDLs). In vitro studies have indicated a role for the liver sinusoidal endothelial cell receptors stabilin 1 (stab1) and 2 (stab2) in oxLDL clearance. In this study, we evaluated the potential role of stab1 and stab2 in lipoprotein uptake in zebrafish, an upcoming model for studying cholesterol metabolism and atherosclerosis.\nLipoproteins were injected in the duct of Cuvier of wild-type (ABTL) or stab1 and stab2 mutant (stab1-/-stab2-/-) zebrafish larvae at 3 days post-fertilization. To examine the effect of stabilin deficiency on lipoprotein and cholesterol metabolism, zebrafish larvae were challenged with a high cholesterol diet (HCD; 4% w/w) for 10 days.\nLipoprotein injections showed impaired uptake of both LDL and oxLDL into the vessel wall of caudal veins of stab1-/-stab2-/- zebrafish, which was paralleled by redistribution to tissue macrophages. Total body cholesterol levels did not differ between HCD-fed stab1-/-stab2-/- and ABTL zebrafish. However, stab1-/-stab2-/- larvae exhibited 1.4-fold higher mRNA expression levels of ldlra involved in (modified) LDL uptake, whereas the expression levels of scavenger receptors scarb1 and cd36 were significantly decreased.\nWe have shown that stabilins 1 and 2 have an important scavenging function for apolipoprotein B-containing lipoproteins in zebrafish and that combined deficiency of these two proteins strongly upregulates the clearance of lipoproteins by macrophages within the caudal vein. Our current study highlights the use of zebrafish as model to study lipoprotein metabolism and liver sinusoidal endothelial cell function. Show less
More men are studying and working in science fields than women. This could be an effect of the prevalence of gender stereotypes (e.g., science is for men, not for women). Aside from the media and... Show moreMore men are studying and working in science fields than women. This could be an effect of the prevalence of gender stereotypes (e.g., science is for men, not for women). Aside from the media and people’s social lives, such stereotypes can also occur in education. Ways in which stereotypes are visible in education include the use of gender-biased visuals, language, teaching methods, and teachers’ attitudes. The goal of this study was to determine whether science education resources for primary school contained gender-biased visuals. Specifically, the total number of men and women depicted, and the profession and activity of each person in the visuals were noted. The analysis showed that there were more men than women depicted with a science profession and that more women than men were depicted as teachers. This study shows that there is a stereotypical representation of men and women in online science education resources, highlighting the changes needed to create a balanced representation of men and women. Even if the stereotypical representation of men and women in science is a true reflection of the gender distribution in science, we should aim for a more balanced representation. Such a balance is an essential first step towards showing children that both men and women can do science, which will contribute to more gender-balanced science and technology fields. Show less
